Hi guys, this is my first fanfiction, and I apologise for any grammatical errors you may find, I would greatly appreciate it if you could all give me gentle criticism of my work and point out ways of how to improve my written ability, as I really want to bring further enjoyment to those who read this and my future stories.

Please note: I tried to include the Dragon Language in this story as well (sorry for any errors there too, haha), you will find the translation at the bottom of the each page containing the language. :-)

Oh, also her name is Irish and supposedly means "a charming woman", it is pronounced Feel-een (I'm sorry if I am wrong haha)

I really hope you all enjoy! ^-^ xx

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(I am sorry for the late update, I had some personal issues going on and I found it difficult to find the time to write but now it seems to have lightened up ^^ YAY, also I decided to combine the second chapter into the first although currently it is not yet complete but I don't have long to go until I finish this chapter so hopefully this week I shall have completed Chapter 1 ^_^ )

Happy reading!

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Chapter 1:

The torch light outside her cell flickered angrily as a chilling draft breezed through the frigid stone corridors, the shadows she knew so well mutated and stretched under the temperamental light and she guessed a storm of some sort would be descending soon upon the fortress that housed her prison. A young girl who may have been pretty in the past looked through the thick matted mess that had once been a bundle of glossy copper curls, her gaunt pale face bore the evident suffering of long term imprisonment in the harsh lands that surrounded her prison, and from head to toe, she was covered in grime that could only be accumulated over passing years, her fingers and nails blackened and her feet stained brown from long term exposure to the dirt floor. The little girl shifted wearily to a more comfortable arrangement for her malnourished body, for her skeletal frame protruded so much so that it had created painful sores, a few of which were obviously infected if one even noticed the little bundle of rags and matting in a corner of a lowered dark cell.
The chained collar around her neck snagged painfully in her matted hair as she had shifted but she could hardly find the will to do anything about it, but it was only when it started to rub against the mottled skin of her neck that was a mix of old scars, open wounds, blisters, sores and calluses that she decided to act to relieve herself from the throbbing and burning pain. The old rusted shackles that had once sat securely around her wrists now fell down her wasted arms as she lifted them up to pull the mane of dirt encrusted matting from the collar and to adjust the metal band to a slightly better position, she sighed heavily in what would've been relief had it not turned into a racking cough that shook her form a moment later, she covered her mouth in an attempt to quieten the sound, for if she was too loud…she would be beaten…,after it thankfully subsided into a wheeze she dared to remove her hands from her cracked and scab dappled mouth, she craned her ears to any sound that may resemble approaching footsteps but when none came did she lose some of the tenseness that had crept up her spine and the crushing band of fear in her chest loosened and faded away, although not entirely.

The little girl rested her head back against the dank cell wall and closed her eyes, there wasn't much to do until the meagre watery gruel they deemed 'food' would arrive, and she prayed to the Divines that it wouldn't be Morgul, who would take time out from time to time to pay her a 'visit', his visit was always the same in every way, and if she wanted to, she could recite his part word for word…, it would start off with him laughing at her misery and reminding her of her squalor, he gloated about himself before offering to take her back if she joined in the raids, he tempted her with foods and gold and all sorts of means that would normally win over most people if they were in her shoes but she held on to her refusal and would turn him down every time, and with that Morgul would turn violent and enraged, he would verbally insult and curse her before moving onto beating her, sometimes he would be brief but other times he would continue until she no longer knew where she was or if she were alive at all, after he had finished his brutality, he would leave her to her despair although she never wept, because crying wouldn't change anything and only exhaust her further.

It must've been a few days since her last 'visit' from him and she still felt his affects, the pain she was in became exhausting and her mind became fuzzy, even though time didn't seem to exist down where she was, it somehow became worse when she was in such states.
She didn't know how long she had been out of it before she was startled awake by the clang of the prison bars vibrating with the impact of a good hard kick, she blinked a few times to try and focus her blurred vision with only little success, the scent of food snatched her senses, and she scrabbled forward not even registering the person who was serving her but leapt at her meagre meal with a fervour of a starved animal as he placed the bowl on the floor and slid it over to her reach. The person or rather 'he, for the low tones of his voice hummed in his throat, laughed at her as he spoke, "look at you filth, look what you've become, its disgusting, you're no more than a wretched pig in its sty" but his insults went unheard, her focus was solely on her food as she near enough inhaled it.

She had been starved for at least three days she had reckoned earlier that day judging from the hard clamping and twisting of her stomach, but food was here now and somehow the thin watery gruel tasted amazing to her, the guy spat on the floor next to her "you should be grateful the Leader even keeps you alive…although I still don't understand why…" he said, although the last part had been directed more to himself than to her, she recognised his voice as Maxentius, a stereotypical Imperial, with a snobbish and rude attitude and paraded himself about like a strutting rooster showing off his proud feathers. Although she was no more than a girl-child, she was confident enough that if she had had her full health back that she could take him down, for he was a newbie to the business, and judging by his lowered guard due to his pompous self-absorbed attitude, it would've made it all to easy to slide a knife between his ribs, but he'd learn in time from the abundant beatings that she knew likely lay before him in the future.
She contemplated in silence as she took her last bite, she knew he would most likely come into her cell to beat her as soon as she turned her back to him, she studied him discretely as she chewed the last piece of stringy mutton from her gruel, he would be a person who would love to be better than everyone else in any situation given to him, and an idea came to mind as she swallowed the remainders of her dinner.
Pushing her bowl back the bars she then dismissed him without even looking back to see his reaction triggered from her behaviour, but she knew well enough without looking that he was tempted to come into her cell and remind her who was boss as she settled herself down as comfortable as she could on the unforgiving ground, she smirked slightly at him lifted her chin in a superior and mocking manner.
Maxentuis glared at her from behind the bars but surprisingly kept his condescending mouth shut, obviously he thought that he would win if he didn't react to her goading and lower himself to her level, and so with a nasty glare and another gob of spit directed into her cell, he made his way beyond her eyesight, leaving her in familiar deafening solitude. The girl cautiously allowed a small smile to form at the corners of her mouth carefully as she delighted that her plan had worked flawlessly, in the quick study she had made of him she had predicted that he would see her evident ploy and rise above it to show who was better and more mature, it would be too insulting to him to be successfully goaded by a child.

With her stomach full and her body as comfortable as she could make it, she gazed at the shadows dancing around her before she closed her eyes and gave into restless sleep, continuing the never ending cycle of her days imprisoned…

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A loud boom overhead startled her suddenly, the sound was near deafening and it shook the fortress's very foundations, her heart was thundering fast from shock and her eyes wide as she gulped in large draughts of frigid air and forced herself to calm, there was no use in panicking she told herself as she switched to breathing deeply through her nose and exhaling through her mouth.

It was rare a storm would form at all where she was and when it did it was mainly sharp heavy rain and a howling gale, she had smelled the change in the weather but had never anticipated the ferocity of it, as she soothed herself knowing that the storm couldn't do much more than make a lightshow and some noise since she was inside she decided to try sleep out the storm, but then a new sound pierced the rhythm of the tempest…it was a bloodcurdling scream…the hairs on her arms stood on edge and a cold ripple slithered over her body, she gasped as a sharp pain seared at her mind when sense of familiarity had started to creep in, her eyes shot open in confused fear and that's when she noted the dimness in the room.

Her breath hitched as turned to look at the metal sconce that held her only source of light…the flame was on its last few minutes... and who knew when they would bother to change it once it had died out… the girl's panic rose at the thought of being engulfed in blinding darkness as the screams got louder, she felt the burn in her throat at being helpless to do anything to prevent the flame from dying, a whimpering sob escaped her lips before she could force it back down her throat, a bright white flash flooded through the tiny window of her cell and illuminated the room, momentarily chasing away the lurking shadows.

As the thunder roared overhead and more lightning followed in a seemingly never ending cycle of light and sound, the screaming became louder…closer…she could plainly hear the clashes of metal and the high pitched screeches as weapons tore into armour and dented shields, battle-cries sounded over the grunts and low moaning of people injured and cut down, something in her head was clawing at her, a flicker of a scene or a hazy silhouette flashed through her mind like the lightning in the sky and she tried to push it away, the familiarity of the sounds outside were calling to her and she didn't want to know what it was, something was instinctively telling her it was bad.

She was drowning in panic as she scrambled into a corner and hugged her knees close to her chest, she wanted to disappear, she didn't want to hear what was going on, footsteps were thudding around somewhere above her…was she going to die? She didn't know…the torched flickered and died…she screamed…

She didn't know how long she was there drowned in the darkness after the storm finally passed, had it been a few hours, a few days, she didn't know as she lay there curled up in the foetal position, her head still felt light from the hyperventilating caused by her panic sometime earlier, her lips had cracked and split open and blood was still pouring freely even as she licked them repetitively, she flinched and gasped often in sudden bursts of an unpleasant emotion she didn't quite understand, and if she wasn't feeling that, she wasn't feeling anything at all as her insides seemed completely numb and her mind drifted to somewhere she couldn't quite remember being when she'd finally faded back into awareness, in her head the screaming seemed to continue and the sounds of death still ringing in her ears, even in her tiny cell she could smell in the air the metallic tang that belonged to blood that wafted in through the little arrowslit of a window far above her.

She shivered on the floor and held her breath as the desire to vomit surged through her; she couldn't afford to throw up if she were to survive and so she tried to focus on something, not only to stop herself from being sick but also to keep her awake and alert, the occasional drip from somewhere to her right had begun to form a puddle and the sound of the colliding water was the only noise that echoed in the darkness and so she began to count it.

She only managed to count forty drops when she heard another sound that gradually grew to the recognisable soft falling of footsteps; she quietened her breathing into slow drawn breaths and craned her ears, the sound seemed to be coming closer she guessed, and to confirm it voices began to form as the footsteps grew closer.

At the sound, she huddled further in on herself and draped her matted hair over body to try and blend in with her surroundings, she fought to urge to hold her breath and bite down on her pained lips as she thought of the possibilities of their approach. What if they were rebels that had killed the camp and Morgul in a bid to take over and they had come for her, and she feared what they would do to her because she knew she wouldn't be getting a quick death.

A painful ball in her throat formed as a glimmer of light crept over the walls and floor, and those hushed voices were close enough now that she could pick up snippets of their conversation "why do you think the fragment would be down here in such a dark place Kodlak?" it was a male voice that was rough and seemed to growl as he spoke but respect was evident in that voice as he addressed the one named Kodlak who in answer to the question replied in an old well mannered voice "it could be anywhere within these walls, and people are known put precious things in the most unlikely of places as to avoid it being found, so its likely it could be even in this dark cesspit" his words sparked a small curiosity deep within her chest as they drew closer, their voices were not familiar to her either which birthed a small glimmer of hope in her chest that they weren't here to hurt her but instead if she called out they may just save her.

They drew closer…shadows forming upon the walls… tall distorted silhouettes of three men leapt over the stonework before finally the masters of those shadows came into view, the torches they bore illuminated their features in sharp detail making them appear more serious and warrior-like.

All three men were in their later years but emanated a sense of strength that one would not underestimate as they passed her cell and out of sight without a look or realisation that the cells may be occupied, and as the light again faded, the girl crawled over as far as she could to the cell bars to catch another glimpse but the chain strung taut as she came to be only a mere meter away from the rusted iron bars of her prison, she hissed in annoyance and pain as the shackles around her body dug in mercilessly and she sank to the floor in a bundle of dirt, blood and cold.
She forced back a whimper as she lay there bleeding from old wounds as the realisation hit her, she had most likely just missed her last chance of being saved and she would die where she was…lying upon the familiar unforgiving dirt of her cell…she didn't have much of a voice to call out to them, so long had it been since it had been used that she sometimes forgot if she were talking by mouth or by mind when she spoke at all, even if it was just to answer the same repetitive questions from Morgul or some utterly repulsive query from some other brute.

Gritting her teeth, she tried to force some sound through her throat but her attempts only led to a dry and coarse whistling sound that was almost indiscernible and had no chance of echoing through the corridors and picked up on the ears of those men as they moved further and further away… she curled into a skeletal ball to conserve warmth and hiccupped a sob as hopelessness settled in and the painful reality of her fate was forced down her throat like foul tasting liquid…she would die here…alone…forgotten.

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Time past unawares to the imprisoned girl, the only movement she made was the shallow rise and fall of her body as she breathed carefully to avoid setting off the coughing that always burned in her throat like lingering embers, she had fallen into a restless doze after she had curled up into a ball and forced herself not to cry over her situation, she had to be strong even though she was helpless to change anything.
As she lay there with her cheek pressed into the dirt, the ear that was pressed to the ground suddenly picked up a sound…a sound that was approaching…her heart leapt at the prospect that it could be those men…she lifted her head from the floor to listen out for them…a while later footsteps thudded closer and those voices returned with the light of their torches chasing off the darkness, when they got close enough to discern their conversation she listened intently, waiting for her chance to catch their attention… "Wuuthrad has to be further inside Kodlak, why did you turn back all of a sudden?" it was the voice of the man she hadn't heard the first time they had passed "we have time to find Wuuthrad now the threat is gone, but I smelt blood that I know doesn't come from those bandits and its coming from one of these cells. Can't you smell it Skjor?" the man who's voice she had first heard replied "yeah I do but Wuuthrad is more important than some ragged prisoner, for all we know it could be a crazed skooma addict and I'd rather not waste my time saving someone who brought this on themselves", one of them sighed and she assumed it was the man named Kodlak "I will keep what I think of this matter to myself to avoid an unpleasant and pointless argument, let us continue".

She heard them break down the rusted doors of other cells and move about inside them before going to the next one, when they got close enough she raised her arms and weakly rattled her chains in hopes they would hear the feeble clinking that she made, the boots stopped and her heart fluttered with a small hope, she rattled them again and called out in a dry whistle of a cry and in answer the boots came rushing to her cell door, their torches raised high over them and looking into the cell, one of them gasped and another exhaled a breath as if they had been winded but when those few seconds past the man with a grey-streaked ponytail kicked hard on the cell door, easily snapping the lock that she had tried so many times to pick in a time where she hadn't been bound to a wall in shackles.

They all walked in although two of the men delegated themselves to be slightly behind the older bearded man, they raised their torches whilst their other hand was positioned to draw their weapon at a moments notice. The older man crouched to her level and she thought for a mere second that his eyes reflected the light eerily but it was gone before she could consider it real or just a figment of her exhausted mind, she looked up at the man who was crouched just out of her reach, a smart and cautious move of a veteran she noted "what is your name?" his voice was soothing to her but it didn't make her let down her guard but a name was a name she thought and it couldn't hurt to tell someone but when she tried to reply only a hoarse whisper came out.

The man above her moved to reach to his waist to grab something, he then extended his hand towards her slowly "here have some of this" it was a waterskin, her heart skipped a beat as she reached tentatively out to grasp it in her bony hand, she pulled out the stopper and placed her cracked lips around the cow horn nozzle, she shivered slightly in euphoria as the cool delicious liquid slid down her throat and soothed away the dryness like a desert being kissed by rain.

How long had it been since she had clean water, her stomach protested against the amount she consumed as she felt it stretch taut like a drum but she couldn't stop, she had long forgotten about her dehydration, it had become a small thought in the back of her mind she never paid much attention to anymore but now it was screaming in her face and so she drank more until almost all the contents of the impermeable goatskin had gone, she breathed a comfortable sigh and handed back the waterskin "thank you" she croaked out, her voice may be there but the years of hardly any use left her raspy "Faoileann….my name…" she said quietly as she looked at the man more closely "I imagine…you are Kodlak… yes?" she noted the surprised blink he made before settling down to look at her with a strong eye of a hawk "and how would you know that?" his voice tinted curiosity and had deepened as well "I heard you all talking…discussing some Wuuthrad…I have good hearing…I have after all…been down here a while I am sure" her voice sounded as lethargic as she felt, she was weak and cold and she hurt "I'm curious to know how you could hear when I know we had been very quiet…" his voice seemed to trail off all of a sudden as she was struck with light-headedness, her eyes lost focus and for a few moments the world around her lost the clarity she was familiar with for so long, the next thing she knew, Kodlak had placed the waterskin back on his belt and had reached for his sword and drew it.

Everything seemed to stop as she was frozen in fear as the cold steel sung in the air and glinted gold and orange in the flames of the torches, scenes flashed through her mind as her eyes continued to look in slow motion as the bearded man raised his sword above him….screaming…flames everywhere…a glint of a cruel face holding a bloodstained sword…, as the images flickered faster and faster a pressurised build-up of force formed in her chest and pushed itself into her throat before expelling itself in the form of a deafening scream…. the scream was so loud it felt like its echo shook the room and dust flecks burst from the old flaking mortar.

It was only when she registered that the fast and heavy thudding in her ears was her heart racing did she realise she was still alive, she couldn't open her eyes to look at anything, she was so frightened of those images that still burned in the backs of her eyes as she covered her head with her hands, she was whimpering and shaking uncontrollably and her ears were ringing and felt painfully stuffed up, she wasn't quite aware of the sounds and movement going on around her but a sudden release in tension around her arms made her build up enough will to force her eyes to open slightly and look down…the chain….was broken…her eyes flashed to the other one…that too was broken…and ever so cautiously…she pulled her legs up towards her body…no tension of metal…her legs tucked neatly to her body…she was free…her heart leapt into her throat in elation that no sooner got knocked aside as it had announced itself… she became the small girl who was confused and conflicted once more…it had been so long since she was free but she never expected to ever be freed once Morgul had bound her in chains, she didn't know how long she had been down in the filthy cell that had somehow become the only world she knew, even though she had once dreamed of the outside world, it had long been beaten out of her by the various crude weapons Morgul liked to hurt her with.

Faoileann was bewildered… for she…had never thought to plan further than getting free of those chains…where would she go? Would anyone know her at all? Would she even make it in the cold in her weakened state?...questions beat around her head as she moved her hand to rub her eyes in an attempt to get rid of the discoloured blots caused by the blood rushing and her screaming, and that's when she noted that she was crying…it was rare she ever cried…it surprised her…and a touch to her cheek startled her into opening her eyes fully, she had temporarily forgotten about the three men in her bewilderment.

The girl noticed that Kodlak had put away his sword and his hand hung in the air between them, his weathered finger glistened with her tears that he had tried to brush away gently and a tender look gleamed in his eyes "I did not mean to frighten you, I was merely freeing you, I am sorry for frightening you" his rich voice eased her a little for she had never been given an apology, the man shifted from his crouch and stood up "let's get out you out of here hm? My hand is here" Kodlak was smiling kindly down at her as he held his hand steadily out to her with no intention to neither extend it to her nor withdraw it back to his side, he merely waited for her decision.

Faoileann hesitated for a long drawn moment before ever so warily reached out and placed her hand in his, her hand was dwarfed by his and the contrast was obvious, her skeletal hand to his fleshed one, her fragility to his strength but his grip was gentle when he closed those large fingers of his around her hand, shakily Faoileann got to her feet using the steady support of Kodlak's hand and gradually she took her first ungainly steps towards her freedom from the filthy damp cell she had been confined in for far too long but the shackles that still remained bound to her rubbed almost unbearably against her wounds and sores, and it caused her to almost shuffle at a very slow rate as she tried to avoid worsening the burning pain sensation she felt. Her agony must of been evident because a few seconds later she was all of a sudden picked up in the arms of Kodlak and taken out of that tiny room…

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There we have it, my first chapter! Yay! I really hope it was a good read, please review, thanks!

PS: I will try my best to regularly update my story.

I hope you all have a great day :-)